Unable To Pay For A Muscle Car, Keith Flannery Built An Affordable Alternative

Keith Flannery * Woodriver, Illinois`90 & `92 Dodge D150'sIn the '60s and early '70s, you could walk into a dealership, plunk down some cash, and leave with a factory race car that was the hottest thing on the street. Then, big brother got involved and along with the gas crunch, choked every bit of horsepower out of the time-honored muscle car. A tiny glimmer of hope came with the Lil' Red Express from Chrysler in '78 and '79. It was factory-equipped with a modified version of the four-barrel 360ci V8 police engine producing 225 net horsepower at 3,800 rpm. The following year these were gone too. Throughout the '80s, we would see nothing in the way of a real high horsepower truck from Detroit. In the '90s, we saw the fullsize Chevy SS pickup and the Typhoon/Syclone. Just recently, we have finally gotten the taste of horsepower back with Ford's supercharged Lightning and Dodge's SRT10 trucks, but even those have fallen by the wayside.

Keith Flannery has been a fan of '60s Chrysler muscle cars since he first laid eyes on one. He watched as the prices skyrocketed out of his reach. He knew he could blend the styling cues of the '60s cars with affordable '90s Dodge truck sheetmetal. Starting with a '90 Dodge D150, the exterior received a Pearl White base and clearcoat finish and blacked-out fender tops, hood, and cowl. AAR Cuda-style stripes were applied to the sides. A wooden bed floor now supports the polished fuel cell and nitrous bottle. The interior was left essentially stock with the addition of a recovered seat, vintage Chrysler steering wheel, a Hurst Shifter, and Auto Meter gauges filling the dash. Keith threw in a 360ci crate engine with a 200hp shot of nitrous under the hood and backed it up with a four-speed. He also strapped his new crate motor to an engine dyno to break it in and get the tune right. The Mopar Performance 360 laid down an impressive 409 hp which is enough to propel the truck down the quarter-mile in the high 12s. To finish the look, he dropped the truck on 20-inch American Racing Torque Thrust wheels. This truck was detailed so well and Keith cared for it so much that it became seldom driven except to shows. He knew he could build another truck of the same vintage with the same look that he could use for a daily driver.

The black '92 Dodge is a bit more mild-mannered. Using the same formula as the white truck, Keith created a low-buck alternative. He straightened out the sheetmetal and laid down a deep black base/clear finish. The fender tops, hood, and cowl got the same flat black treatment. An Extang tonneau cover seals up the bed because, after all, this is a work truck. The V6 engine and manual transmission gets 24-plus miles per gallon, so Keith didn't mess with it. For a timeless hot rod look, the entire interior was changed to red, including new red carpet and vinyl seat covers. Front lowered control arms and springs from Mid America Customs were added along with a flipped rear axle for a great stance. This whole package sits on affordable 15-inch American Salt Flats.

Both trucks share the classic muscle look, but on two totally different budgets. Keith Flannery has created what Chrysler and all of Detroit should have long ago. He is already working on another D150 that will rip up the short tracks in Petty blue.